BÁBÁ’S GRACE Spiritual Discourses by Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti Copyright © 2006 Ánanda Márga Publications Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha (Central) All rights reserved www.anandamarga.org Contents Introduction 4 Short Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide 6 1 The Lord’s Play 7 2 The God of Human Beings 9 3 Mantra Caetanya 14 4 Vibration, Form and Colour 23 5 Rudra 42 6 Spiritual Practice and the Cosmic Science (Sádhaná and Madhuvidyá) 46 7 Parama Puruśa and His Creation 51 8 The True Devotee 61 9 The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 3 62 10 Yajina̭ and Karmaphala 76 11 He is Everywhere 85 12 The Divine Will 88 13 You Live According to God’s Desire 90 14 Dagdhabiija 92 15 Parama Puruśa 95 16 Occult Powers or Parama Puruśa? 101 17 Brahma Krpáhi Kevalam 103 18 God is with You 106 19 Your Personal Relationship with God 107 20 Properly Utilize Yourself to Reach God 109 21 The Bliss of the Devotee 110 22 Knowledge and Progress 112 23 Safeguards Against the Defects of Jinána and Karma 117 24 Longing for the Great 121 25 Máyá and Mokśa 125 26 One and Zero 128 27 Bhaktitattva 129 28 Movement Towards Perfection is Dharma 139 29 Desire and Detachment 140 30 The Lord’s Feet 152 31 Stages of Samádhi 154 32 Self-Transcendence 158 33 Niiti and Dharma 160 34 The Sound of God 168 35 Astitva and Shivatva 170 36 The Call of the Supreme 176 37 I Am Yours 182 38 Surrender 183 Glossary 185 Introduction Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti is the spiritual guide for millions of spiritual aspirants all over the world. He is called Bábá, which means “beloved”. From His early childhood, men and women of all ages have been drawn to Him by the power of His love. Living an ordinary life, as a child, as a schoolboy, as a railway officer in a small town in India, at the same time He taught many sincere seekers how to realize the Truth within themselves. Soon the number of His disciples was multiplying so rapidly that He began to train others to teach the practices of self-realization; and thus the organization Ánanda Márga, the Path of Bliss, was founded, and spread rapidly all over the world. Those who follow His teachings find their lives transformed; the confining walls of their egos dissolve and an all-embracing cosmic feeling begins to fill their hearts. They begin to look on all people as brothers and sisters, as the manifestations of the Supreme. They want to serve those manifestations. They cannot bear to see others in pain, and they want to share with all the bliss which they themselves enjoy. From Hong Kong to Buenos Aires to New York, many people are working tirelessly in the service of humanity, motivated by His indescribable love. In these discourses Baba speaks of the journey of the Soul. The journey begins with Abso- lute Consciousness, the pure essence, Parama Puruśa, God. Due to the force of the Cosmic Energy, Prakrti, that Supreme Essence is transformed into this vibrational, manifested world, into “crude” matter. And then the return journey home begins. The creation, drawn by that supreme attractive force of the Cosmic Nucleus – the power of love – gradually evolves again into subtler and subtler entities, with higher and higher expressions of con- sciousness: unicellular organisms, plants, animals, higher animals, and finally man, the most evolved manifestation of that Consciousness. At a certain point in his evolution, there awakens inside of man a desire to know himself, to know his purpose in life. When this desire awakens, he is ready to begin sádhaná, the “effort of completion,” the practices of meditation by which he will accelerate his evolu- tion and hasten his journey home to the pure Consciousness from which he came. When this desire awakens in him, his guide appears, the teacher who will lead him forward on the path of realization. Guru means “dispeller of darkness,” and the Master does exactly that; with His own divine powers, He clears the clouds from His beloved disciples’ minds. He helps them transcend all their negative tendencies so that their true nature – divine perfection – may shine forth from within. For the Guru is verily the perfect expression of that Supreme Consciousness. It is God who in the form of the Guru is drawing His beloved children to Himself. As the disciple progresses more and more on the path of realization, as his perfect nature flowers more and more within him, he feels the pervasiveness of love – God’s love, the Guru’s love, love within himself – and in ecstasy he sees love every- where. God, the Guru, his innermost self, and all creation, all become one. 4 The devotee reaches this sublime state by His Grace alone. For the devotee, His Grace is all. Note: The author’s use of the word “man” is usually intended in the general sense, i.e. “human”, and the use of him or his or he, etc. (lower case) similarly refers to both genders. 5 Short Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide Sanskrit is the language of the terminology (and mantras) of Ánanda Márga practice and philosophy. A short guide to Sanskrit pronunciation using Roman Saḿskrta (Sanskrit) script is given below. • a is pronounced as the “u” in “us” • á is pronounced as the “a” in “father” • i is pronounced as in “bit” • ii is pronounced as the “ee” in “beet” • u is pronounced as in “put” • ú is pronounced as the “oo” in “boot” • e is pronounced as in “net” • ae is pronounced as the “a” in “made” • o is pronounced as in “top” • ao is pronounced as the “o” in “owl” • ḿ is pronounced as the “ng” in “sing” • n ̭ is pronounced as a nasal sound at the back of the throat • t,́ d́, and ń are pronounced with the tongue at the top of the mouth • c is pronounced as the “ch” in “child” • ph is pronounced as the “f” in “father” • sh is pronounced as in “she” • all other consonants followed by an “h” are aspirated (i.e. the original sound of the consonant followed by a “ha” sound) • s ́ is pronounced between “sh” and “s” • y is pronounced as “j” at the beginning of a word and “ia” in the middle or at the end of a word • v is pronounced as “v” at the beginning of a word and “w” in the middle of a word • jiná̭ is pronounced “gyá”, as in jinána̭ (pronounced “gyána”) 6 The Lord’s Play There is a single entity, or personality, in this universe. Apparently you are many, but fun- damentally you are one. The one is manifested in the many. The word khila in Sanskrit means a “latch”. Akhila therefore means “that which cannot be contained or closed”, that is, this universe. The creation of this universe – the substance of this universe is one, though the creation is manifold. Why this creation of one into many? The reply is only with the Creator, the Supreme Lord. Philosophers try to answer this ques- tion but fail; how far can a microcosmic brain with its small nerve fibres go? Even if an individual utilizes all his or her mental powers, that individual will not succeed in an- swering. The devotee’s approach to this question is, however, different. The devotee enters God’s mind, mingles his or her mind with that of the Supreme Being, and knows some of the secrets of God’s mind from within. The devotees say God is Supreme. They sing His glory and defend all His actions. That is why God says, “My devotees are greater than Myself.” A common person says, “Oh, God, we are tired of your liilá. What is the need of it? We are all suffering and you call it a play.” The devotee, however, defends God with this: “My Lord was utterly alone before the crea- tion. A person becomes mad if he or she is alone in a big vacant house. God was restless before the creation. He could neither love, nor feel angry with, anyone. So creation was a compulsion. He has created all these forms by multiplying Himself. When God was alone, He had the power to see, but there were no objects to be seen. Now that He has started the creation, He sees whatever He thinks. If we are His own forms and feel a little restless- ness in His creation, we are blessed, for we are saving our Lord from the restlessness of utter loneliness.” This is the way a devotee looks at the secret of creation. We are all part of that Supreme Being – He is playing with Himself in all our forms. This is a divine play. He is playing hide-and-seek with Himself. Search Him in your little “I” feeling and you will find the King of kings there. In fact, the name of this search is sádhaná. If you do not go within, do you want to go out? But where will you go, since He is every- where in this universe and surrounds this universe? You cannot go outside of Him. He is there within and without – in your small “I” as well as in this big universe. He alone is a Single Entity pervading all forms. By thinking of Him one becomes free from all kinds of bondages such as fear, etc.; and one who is free from bondages is He Himself. Knowing Him is being Him. This is the way of establishing oneself with Him, of becoming the Single Entity – by transcending the many forms.